Flipped Up Reality
by Tabansi232
Summary: Reposted. A thirteen-year-old girl finds herself in the world of Final Fantasy IX. What was once painless entertainment has become a struggle for survival, and with war on the horizon, her days start to feel very numbered.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Reposting this story. Check my profile for details.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IX belongs to Square Enix. I do not make any profit from this story.

Warnings: Blatant Self Insert (SI), violence, gore, language, minor nudity and sexual themes, and suggestive themes. Any possible triggers will be warned for at the start of each chapter.

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Flipped Up Reality

Chapter One: A Very Bad Day

Every teenager in existence has done something to make their parents' faces turn purple with seething rage. It's something akin to a rite of passage that allows children to go on to be destructive teenagers and then well-rounded adults. The unfortunate part about this is that I'm already incurring such a wrath after just joining the ranks of teenagers two weeks ago, and even more unfortunate is that I'm not the one who is in the wrong here.

"What were you thinking!" my mother screeches at me in the shrillest voice she can muster. In our small apartment, her voice bounces off the walls and leaves a low ringing in my ears, causing me to rightfully grimace. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that my own mother is trying to make me deaf.

It's a predictable response on my end, but I try it out anyway. "I wasn't thinking—"

That seems to be the exact response my mother has been waiting for, as she immediately stops me with a firm point of her finger. "That's right! You weren't! Do you know how much trouble you have gotten yourself in? They now think it's my fault that you're acting out in such inappropriate ways!"

"I wasn't acting out!" I exclaim, trying to wrap my head around what "inappropriate ways" meant. I was rather adult-like in the way I responded to that student teacher.

Earlier today, I had back talked my Algebra teacher. It isn't anything people haven't done before when they have gotten pissed off and overly frustrated, and if you knew Mr. Lawrence, you'd be cheering me on. He doesn't explain anything, doesn't help you, and gives you unreasonable amounts of homework that we review once in a blue moon. He also likes to pick on people to answer questions that he knows we don't know how to do, and I happened to be his unfortunate victim for today.

Normally, I'm quite an easygoing person. When tough situations arise, I usually do my best to just suck it up and deal with it. After class is when I would finally vent my frustrations in the "We Hate Mr. Lawrence" support group. Today, however, is turning out to be one of those Alexander-patented, rotten, no-good, very bad days where all you want to do is crawl into your cozy bed and play your favorite game until the day was finally over. This day had been going from bad to worse with every turn hitting an obnoxious detour that sent me off course onto an even worse road than before.

Today, I made the number one mistake to starting off a day: I woke up late. This gave me ten minutes before the smelly, overcrowded bus arrived to get dressed, brush my hair and teeth, and gather my schoolwork. Since I live with five other siblings, three of which are girls, I never ended up spending more than a minute in the bathroom to brush my teeth and put my hair up in a messy bun.

Being the optimist that I am, I figured that I would just have to use the bathroom at school in order to finish my business. Of course, I chose to not expect the unexpected, which ended up being a fatal mistake.

The bus arrived at school after the bell rang, so I only had enough time to get to my locker, get my stuff, and make it to homeroom. My school happens to be on those schools where they believe that the buses are never late, so it's just the student's fault that they are late to school. Winter tends to be a murderous time of the year for attendance.

I really had to go to the bathroom at this point, so I immediately ask my homeroom teacher for permission to use the lavatory, not the bathroom since there are no baths in the room. My homeroom teacher remained unsympathetic to my potty dance and shook her head, telling me that it was my job to take care of my business before I came into homeroom. No "excuses" would make her see otherwise, so I ended up having to hold my dying bladder in until lunchtime.

Those four hours had been the longest four hours in the history of long hours, and I don't think such a record even exists.

Well, I didn't think anything could be worse than not being able to relieve oneself when one seriously has to (because when you gotta go, you gotta go). Life, ever the devil's advocate, decided to teach me some more lessons about what could be an even worse experience.

For example, there was a pop quiz in Social Studies. No, it's not the fact that we had to take a pop quiz in the subject that made the experience terrible, but the actual content of the pop quiz was something that had me mentally bashing my head against the desk.

Usually, Mr. Samuel teaches the class, and he is an awesome teacher. I actually pay attention in class because he makes the subject interesting. Today, however, there was a substitute. Her name escapes me, but I honestly don't want to be reminded of what she did to us.

She decided to make up the pop quiz on her own after skimming through the chapter of the history book that we were on. One of her ridiculous questions: What color was the Dutchman's hat on page 233?

... You have no idea how hard it was for me to resist banging my head against my desk until I got a concussion. I don't even know how to express the idiocy performed by this woman.

Then, after an already terrible day, I had the horrible period of math to look forward to ending the day with. Mr. Lawrence just gave me the wrong push, and I let him have it. Of course, the only thing that it led to was landing me a promising spot in detention, but it had felt really good at the time to take my frustration out on someone who deserved it.

So, yeah... Today is not a good day for me, and when I finally came home from school, all I had to look forward to is this. My household hasn't exactly caught up with the whole judicial system, yet, so those rights I'm supposed to have don't apply here. Pleading the fifth is probably the only option I can try right now. Mom does like screaming more than listening when she gets this riled up.

"I don't know what has gotten into you lately! Fighting with a teacher? They are not one of your little friends—they are adults! You respect adults!" She catches my eye-roll and puts her face directly in front of mine. "You do that one more time, young lady, and I will add my own punishment to go with those detentions."

Okay, this is just going from bad to worse. I'm thirteen years old! I should be able to think of a way out of this!

"Look," I say, tentatively taking a step back from my mom to regain my composure. "I'm sorry—"

"No, you're not sorry at all!" she cuts in once more. "And you shouldn't apologize to me! Apologize to poor Mr. Lawrence! You will write him a letter apologizing for your outrageous behavior, and then I want you to read it to him in person."

My jaw drops at this point, and I'm sincerely convinced that my own mother gives out punishments more heinous than any other parent could.

"What!" The shock is clearly evident in my voice, and even though I know that my mother isn't playing around with me, a part of me still hopes that she is not being serious. "No way! He deserved it—"

"Cami..." Once Mom uses her warning tone, it is wise to shut one's mouth unless they're prepared to face the consequences. One more wrong word and I will be grounded for sure.

So let me try to choose the right words.

"But, Mom!" I whine in such a pathetically childish voice that only someone as cold-hearted as my own mother could not fall prey to it and let me off with a simple warning. "It's not fair!"

"Life's not fair—" my mother starts to say, but this time I interrupt her.

"Screw life!"

"That's it!" Mom practically roars at me. I shrink back from the sound and prepare for what I know will be my punishment that could have been avoided if I kept my stupid, big mouth shut, even if I was trying to defend myself against an unjust punishment. Yeah, screw life.

"You're grounded!" Great... "No friends, T.V., music, computer, phone, video games, or anything! Now, go to your room!"

Congratulations, Cami. You've managed to get yourself grounded in a span of five minutes. Someone has been practicing for her teenaged years. Now, go to your room and find a nice, sturdy wall to bash your head against until life stops sucking, okay?

Trembling with unbridled rage, I give my mother one last heated glare before stomping off to my room and slamming the door behind me for dramatic effect. I throw myself on top of my twin-sized bed and bury my face into my pillow. A muffled scream releases all of the day's frustrations out in one go, but instead of feeling calmed down afterwards, I feel just as frustrated and angry.

Taking heavy breaths, I roll over onto my back, still trying to calm myself down. It takes a lot to get me like this, and I'm at the point where I just want to break down crying about how life is so unfair, and all I wanted to do when I got home was play some video games and relax...

The rage immediately subsides as I lift myself up into a sitting position on my bed, staring at my PlayStation and television that's still sitting there in my room. My bedroom door is shut, and it'll take a few hours for my mom to calm down enough to try talking to me again. Oh, the downfall of sending children to their rooms nowadays is that it doesn't have the punishment effect that it used to.

Sliding off my bed, I first head over to my windows to pull down the dark green shades. The sun creates too much of a glare on my television screen, and I really don't want one of my siblings to see that I'm on the PlayStation. Living on the first floor, the one closest to the ground, certainly has its disadvantages.

Quirking a slight grin, I turn the television on so that its light illuminates the dark room. Not wanting to draw any attention to my gameplay, I mute the volume before turning my PlayStation on. It gives a low beep before the motor turns on, and its soothing hum fills the room as it starts up. The motor seems to be working really hard, as the sound gets louder as it finally makes it to the main menu, but what else can you expect from a console that is over a decade old? I'm just happy that it still works.

Next to the gray PlayStation is a stack of video game boxes. Plopping myself down on the faded beige carpet, I grab the box on the top of the stack, giving it a quick once over before placing it back down on the floor beside me. Final Fantasy VII is a great game and all, but I just beat it for the fifth or sixth time last week. It's time for a break from that game for a while.

With a sigh, I pick up the next game in the stack. Metal Gear Solid? Nah, I'm not in the mood to fight terrorists. Let's see what's next... Silent Hill? Nope. Resident Evil? No. Spyro the Dragon? This is a pretty weird order that I have these games in, and no. Geez, I hadn't realized how behind the times I am in video games. I guess I would have better ones if I had the Xbox or PlayStation 2, but this is what you get when your older brother gets all the good things in life first.

About to give up and settle for reading an age-appropriate book, such as Battle Royale, I pick up the last game in the stack, Final Fantasy IX. The game case is thicker than the other ones since it has four discs held inside, and I could remember my thoughts of how this game would never end because it had so many discs. It took me three months to finally beat this game since I got so caught up in the story and wanted to spend as much time as I could in every place that I visited. Why read to get lost in a story when I can play a video game and become a part of one?

Opening the case, I take out the first disc that has an imprint of the main character's face on it. It's hard to see since the picture is simply shades of gray on a silver background, but I can visualize it just fine from my familiarity with the character. Zidane Tribal is one of my favorite fictional characters in existence, and I love his contradictory personality to the last couple main characters of the Final Fantasy series.

For the first time today, a natural grin settles onto my face as I load the first disc into the PlayStation, waiting patiently for the disc to be read and loaded. After a few minutes of struggle, the PlayStation logo comes up and the opening sequence that showcases the different, beautiful places and landmarks of the world of Gaia begins. I skip it, having seen the introduction so many times before, and I wait a couple minutes for the title screen to load. So far, the PlayStation has only been running slow, which is better than having it freeze every few minutes. Maybe I'll have no problems with playing the game.

I select "New Game" on the screen, already planning out my time in Alexandria. After Vivi is given his ticket from a little girl, I will try to make him run into the next screen as fast as he can to avoid being run into by Puck. Yes, I'm aware that this is impossible, and that Puck will run into Vivi no matter how you control him, but I always like to try to avoid it anyway. At least then I can shout back at the screen, "HA! YOU CHASED ME! YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU RAT!"

Then I'll have Vivi collect various items lying around Alexandria, steal from a few houses, and buy some potions and such so that I will be more than prepared for Evil Forest. Maybe I'll even play that stupid jump rope game that I can never get past 250 jumps with in order to get some more supplies.

The scene with the little girl in a small, shabby, wooden boat with an older woman during a nasty storm finally ends, revealing a beautiful young woman wearing a dress fit for royalty who is just waking up from what appears to be a nightmare. It's so not fair that Princess Garnet gets to be so pretty, and I bet she barely has to work at it. If I woke up after sleeping in a chair, I would have my hair all disheveled and my clothes wrinkles from trying to find a comfy position on the chair. I would probably have bags under my eyes, too, from sleeping so restlessly from having such a nightmare.

After Princess Garnet is shown staring out her large bedroom window, the scene finally switches to show a ship sailing through the sky over a sea of clouds. A flock of doves fly alongside the majestic vessel while the camera gives an amazing panorama of what the airship looks like with hues of a setting sun coloring the background sky. Even with age the animation for this game is simply breathtaking.

The visuals fade to inside the ship where a guy with a monkey tail slides down a pole in order to reach the level of the ship that the game is on. Like a monkey, or more so like the teenaged boys I know, the guy scratches his butt as he walks over to a door, letting his monkey tail slowly sway back and forth behind him. It makes me think more of how a cat's tail behaves, but that's probably because I know a cat tail's behavior better than a monkey's.

...Um, Cami, be a hormonal, teenaged girl and stare at Zidane's ass instead.

"Sure is dark..." Zidane says once he enters the room. Lucky for me, the game provides a soft glow around the character so that I can at least see him. Without me controlling him, he takes a couple of steps forward, looking from side to side. "Guess nobody's here yet..."

I always thought it would be epic for Zidane to light the match and all of the Tantalus members would suddenly appear. That's how all the freaky horror movies work, and yes, that explains why Resident Evil and Silent Hill were in my stack of games.

Zidane reaches his hand down, making a motion as if he's reaching in his pant pocket for something, though the computer animation and graphics aren't advance enough to show him actually reaching into his pocket. Regardless, he brings both his hands in front of him and slides them together. The dim glow around him brightens, and a white glove points to the top of his blond-haired head, signaling for me to take control of him. Yay! I'm finally part of the story!

"Cami!" I groan once I hear my mother call for me. Judging by the volume of her voice, she's just down the hall, and judging by the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer to my room, she's going to talk to me about our fight.

Everything clicks in an instant, and I immediately shut the television off by pressing the power button on it. I do the same for the PlayStation, not really caring that I haven't gotten a chance to save my new game since I barely did anything so far. To my surprise, the little green light that lets me know that the power of the PlayStation is on doesn't go out. I click the power button again, thinking I hadn't pressed the round button down hard enough, but the light still doesn't go out.

"Cami, if that PlayStation is on, so help me—I will ground you for another week!" What the—how does she even know? Gah! Turn off, you stupid machine! Turn off!

A brilliant idea comes to mind, and I act on it just as my mother's footsteps are heard right outside my bedroom door. As she turns the knob, I pull the plug from the wall that connects to the PlayStation. Just as I am about to throw myself against my bed so it looks like I had been sulking there and not playing video games, a little green light catches my eye. Are you shitting me—

My bedroom door swings open with some force, and my entire body tenses up as I prepare for the verbal lashing of the year. Fear encases my mind and my vision blurs as the light from the hallways pours into my dark room. I feel dizzy. Really dizzy.

Everything fades away as my world continues to spin in the darkness, and I find myself lying down on my side as the feeling becomes overwhelming.

"My head..." I moan aloud as the spinning finally stops. "Mom, I think I'm sick. Did I just pass out?"

She doesn't answer me. With a pained groan, I roll myself onto my side and lift myself up with my elbow. It is then that I realize something that manages to make my eyes snap open before quickly closing them due to the bright light. The ground I am currently sprawled unceremoniously upon is not my carpet floor, or any floor in my house, or even my bed. Judging by the texture of the ground, I must be lying upon some sort of cobblestone patio—hopefully my own. Why am I lying on my patio, though? Did my mom see me faint and think, 'Oh, she needs some fresh air,' and toss me out on the patio?

My eyes slowly adjust to the light, and with just a few glances around that panic from before returns full force. I don't see anything familiar that indicates I'm in my backyard, lying on my patio. Although, this place does seem strangely familiar, and I get the feeling that I've seen it before, and the location's name is on the tip of my tongue, but my gut tells me that something is wrong.

Surrounding me is a bunch of houses almost fully circling the perimeter save for a gap where an iron gate is. The houses immediately remind me of old-fashioned condos, but they were definitely not like any style found in my hometown. They're the type of houses I would come across in my history book, but I can't quite say for sure that's why they look familiar.

In the middle of the place stands a statue of a female knight holding a sword. My mind tries to come to the conclusions that aliens abducted me and sent me back in time or to one of those medieval fairs, bit it just seems too unlikely. Why would aliens send me to a place like this?

Okay, focus brain. This is serious.

Out of the corner of my eye, something catches my attention, and I immediately freeze when I realize just what it is. A duck lady and what seems to be a lion-humanoid are standing by the statue wearing clothing that I do remember the nobles wearing in my history book. The duck lady is wearing a fancy, Victorian-style purple dress while fanning herself, and the lion-human hybrid has this beautifully carved cane that you would probably find in an antique shop. His suit really contrasts his appearance too.

"The hell?" I gasp, scrambling to stand up. My body protests the action, and I nearly fall over from the lack of cooperation, but I manage to steady myself.

"You okay?" asks a boyish voice from behind me. I whip around to see a teenaged boy, probably a few years older than I am, with light brown hair that is in this weird mushroom cut that keeps his bangs covering his eyes. He's also wearing blue overalls with a white shirt underneath and a brown hat reminding me of an outfit that a stereotypical farmer's boy would wear. Despite his strange appearance, I can't help but stare at him as if I have seen him a million times before.

"Uh, do I have something on my face?" he asks, cocking his head at me. He's probably uncomfortable with the weird look that I'm giving him.

"Ah, no!" I quickly say, giving him a sheepish smile. "You just look very familiar... Have we met before?"

"No, I believe we have not." Well, that shoots that thought down. "Are you here for the play, "I Want to be Your Canary"?" he asks, changing the subject.

"N-No... Wait... Did you just say, "I Want to be Your Canary"?" I ask in a small voice. No person other than fans of the Final Fantasy IX game knows that play. How does he know it?

"Yeah, a group from Lindblum called Tantalus is performing the play for Princess Garnet Til Alexandrios 17th in honor of her sixteenth birthday," the boy explains while making an expression as if he were raising an eyebrow at me. I can't tell with his long bangs. "Did you hit you head and forget or something?"

"Uh, y-yeah! Thank you!" I blurt out, quickly walking away from the boy in a slight daze. He calls out to me asking if I'm all right, but I really don't have the strength to answer him. I feel so weak in the knees right now. If what this boy says is true, then I must be—but that's impossible! There's no way!

"I'm dreaming," I announce to myself. "I must have somehow hit my head in my panic and now I'm dreaming." Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I raise my right hand up to my left upper arm and pinch the skin there hard. I quickly open my eyes again, expecting to be in a dark room with my mother looking concerned at me, but nothing changes.

I'm in the kingdom of Alexandria... I'm in a fantasy place in my Final Fantasy IX game. I'm in a place that doesn't really exist, except in our imaginations. I'm in a place that is not possible to be in! Oh, no! I think I've gone insane!

"Excuse me, Miss? Have you seen a brown cat?" a timid voice asks from behind me.

With about one inch away from losing whatever is left of my sanity, I turn around and nearly fall backwards in shock at seeing the person behind me.

"Vivi!" The name slips out of my mouth before I can stop myself, and everyone's favorite, little black mage jumps back in as just as much shock as me. His bright yellow eyes widen considerably.

"H-How do you know m-my name?" he asks. "Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Playing Along Part I

More panicked thoughts race through my mind as I realize what I've just done. I'm not supposed to know Vivi's name! I'm not even supposed to be here! This is all just so wrong. So very wrong. Oh, geez...

C'mon, Cami. Now is not the time to freak out—we'll do that in privacy. Just think of a little white lie in order to play along with this world. You make up excuses and lies all the time, so just think of one! Think!

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," I tell Vivi, making sure my tone is friendly and polite. An apologetic smile worms its way onto my face as I try my best to look utterly sincere. Though I can't see my face, I can just imagine a rather constipated expression on it right now. "I'm a traveler, and I overheard in Treno that a Qu named Quan was raising a black mage named Vivi. The way he was described to me matches your description perfectly. I was never actually expecting to meet you in person, though."

He isn't going to buy it. That lie is so horrible that I might as well include that the Earth is square, which would ultimately bring in even more confusion since I'm now in Gaia... Damn, this is just too confusing.

"Oh... S-So, uh, what's your name?" Vivi asks while adjusting his hat a bit.

"I'm Cami Leander," I introduce myself with a smile. He bought it. Wow. Still, this is cute, innocent, naïve little Vivi we're talking about. He is the one who bought a fake ticket to the play titled, "I Want to be Your Crow." I guess it's believable that he would believe me. I just hope he doesn't ask me why people know and talk about his grandfather and him. You can only lie so much about something before the truth comes back to kick you in the butt.

"Are you here to see the play?" I ask, having decided to strike up a conversation with the infamous (well, to me) black mage. An awkward has settled since I introduced myself, and I can't stand awkward silences, or those people that make those awkward moose and turtle signs. I think that adds more to the awkwardness while breaking only a little of the tension.

Besides, this is Vivi! The Vivi! I'd have given an arms and a leg to talk to him about the weather, and now I get to have a simple conversation with him for free? Lady Luck must have finally taken an enormous amount of pity upon me, and I'm actually going to thank her for it!

"Yeah!" Vivi beams, sounding a bit more confident than before, so maybe he's not as freaked out by me now. Or he's just responding to his childish instincts of being excited over getting to see a play that few people in his situation ever get to see. "Someone in Treno sold it to me f-for less than the actual price."

"You don't say?" The corner of my lip twitches as I struggle to maintain my smile. Poor Vivi. Who would scam a poor child in order to make a quick buck? Monsters, that's who. "So, what were you doing looking for a cat instead of going to the play?"

Vivi shuffles his brown buckled shoes that seem to be meant for someone ages older than himself. He rubs his gloves together slightly as if he were fiddling with his thumb. Just everything about his tentative nature screams out "adorable" to me.

"This is my first time in Alexandria, an-and I wanted to explore before the play stated," Vivi says, now sounding shier than before. I chant to myself over and over again to not let out one of those high-pitched fangirl squeals. "A boy here asked me to look for his cat."

"Is that it?" I ask, pointing to the brown cat currently in the process of licking his fur. I'm surprised Vivi missed it walking into here. That feline is pretty big for a cat... I hope it doesn't scratch people...

Cats tend to not get along with me, which is why I'm starting to get jumpy. I have my reasons. Believe me, I have them.

Vivi blinks and looks over to the cat. Enlightenment seems to brighten up his already bright, yellow eyes. He trots over to the cat and kneels down next to it without a second thought. I follow him while idly wondering how he manages to run in all of those clothes. Vivi's white-and-green-striped pants are unbelievably puffy, and a worn, brown leather belt holds them up. His blue and white overcoat also seems tremendously heavy for his frame, but I suppose it's rather similar to a child's snowsuit on Earth. Also, his old, tattered leather hat, which has a few stitches in it, bobs as he walks and runs. It's easily noticeable why Vivi must constantly adjust it to keep the huge thing situated on his head. But, man, the poor guy must shrivel up in the heat... At least he has warm clothing for Ice Cavern and other freezing places.

Just as I reach the cat, visibly glaring at it and just daring it to try attacking me, a young boy with stringy brown hair comes running towards us. Upon seeing the cat, he smiles widely. I'm going to take a wild guess that he's the cat's owner.

"My cat! You found my cat!" he cries happily as he reaches us. "Thank you so much!"

He then turns t the brown cat who is staring innocently at him. "Bad kitty! Don't run off on me again!"

As quickly as the boy enters the scene, he flees with the cat following closely behind him. O...Kay. That is definitely what I can label as "weird" in this screwy world. I'm all for talking animals that dress in Victorian-esque clothing, but that boy is where I draw the line.

Wearily, I look up at the sky that seems to be turning a pinkish orange hue. It's getting late, and that means that the play is going to start soon. Excitement bubbles within me when I realize that I'm finally going to get to watch the entire play! I hope it's as good as it's made out to be. If it isn't, then I guess I'll just find a corner to hyperventilate in until I pass out or wake up from this crazy dream.

A more depressing thought takes me as I realize that if things go as they do in the game, I'm screwed. Dread starts settling in the pit of my stomach as I realize this, and I can't think of any comforting thoughts to stop the slow rise of panic from within me.

"It's getting late," I state, turning towards Vivi. Quick breaths make their way out of me, but I'm determined to remain visibly calm. One person panicking will cause another person to panic, and I rather not have Vivi, of all people, to think of me as some deranged lunatic. "You should get your ticket checked out by the Ticket Master."

Vivi, once again, blinks and looks over at me this time. "How did you know that I didn't get my ticket checked?"

Oh, my. Forget the deranged lunatic bit. I'm already giving off vibes that I'm a deranged stalker. "I didn't. I was just saying so in case you didn't."

Nice save, stalker.

"What about you?" Vivi suddenly asks, causing me to stare dumbly at him for a moment.

"What about me?"

"Don't you have a ticket to go see the play?"

"Oh! No, I don't... I just came here for the heck of it," I tell him with another cover-up smile planted firmly on my face. "But I'll stay with you until you have to go—if that's all right with you?"

I am such a stalker. There's something wrong with me. I'm asking to stay with a nine-year-old, and by that I must mean stalk him, instead of looking for an adult with medical training to check my head.

Subconsciously, I run my fingers through my hair, lightly touching at my scalp with my fingertips. I can't feel any bumps or cuts, so I think that's a good sign.

"S-Sure!" Vivi replies, looking a bit happier than before. "I came here on my own..." His voice softens as he admits, "It'd be nice to have some company."

Aw, Vivi, you are just too adorable! Why can't I have you as a little brother? Because that would make me a kidnapping stalker, that's why!

Okay, I really have got to stop calling myself a stalker. It's not doing anything for my mindset.

"Alrighty then!" I say, pumping my fist in the air for some forced enthusiasm. "Let's go get that ticket of yours checked!"

Vivi and I powerwalk down the streets of Alexandria, though when I look over my shoulder, I notice that it's more me powerwalking and poor Vivi jogging to keep up with me. Giving Vivi an apologetic smile, I slow down so that we're both walking down the sand-colored stone-patterned street.

Despite the chaos being created behind the castle walls, this place is actually very peaceful. There's no noise and bustle of everyday city life, and I have not heard a car, truck, or airplane since I got here. There's only a soft cooing of doves that reaches my ears every so often. Most of the shops are closed for the night due to the play, and the few people who are walking around seem to be in good moods. They're not worrying about any wars or eidolons attacking them. They're just going about their everyday lives as if all is well in the world.

This train of thought leads me to look over at Doug's Item Shop as Vivi and I pass it. The door's closed, and there's a closed sign nailed to the wooden door. The paned windows reveal a dark, almost blackish, room inside. Oh, no... If I'm in the world of Final Fantasy IX, I'm going to need a decent supply of potions, eye drops, antidotes, and all that other good stuff. The one thing that I need the most right now, though, is a weapon. I have no money on me whatsoever, and I honestly can't tell you what gil looks like even if you held it out in front of me. Only the clothes on my back and my old, ratty, dirty, no-longer-white sneakers that I hadn't taken off when I came home are with me.

Pulling at my gray sweatshirt, I visibly try to remain calm. Worrying myself to death like this isn't going to help. I need to treat this situation as I would treat any other situation where I happen to be separated from my parents and am all alone and defenseless and without any money—gah! Those thoughts just don't stop!

"Hey, Vivi?" I finally voice, halting my tracks before we can pass the supply shop. It's better to ask now than never.

"Y-Yeah?" He stops, tilting his head up to look at me.

"Do you have a lot of items on you?" I mentally wince at using the term "items" instead of using "medicine" or something. I hope this doesn't make me sound weird. "You know, for the trip back?"

Sticking his brown-gloved hand inside his overcoat, Vivi seems to rummage around the fabric for something. Pursing my lips together, I wonder how much longer we have before the play starts. I pray that Puck hasn't already run off with the ladder, bit if this is anything like the game, he shouldn't have as of yet. At least, I hope he hasn't...

"—and I have some phoenix downs, two phoenix feathers, two echo screens—"

"Wait, wait," I quickly interrupt. "How many potions and antidotes do you have?"

"Um, three potions and two antidotes?" he answers timidly, reaching back inside his coat and pulling a couple small vials out with thick, light purple liquid sloshing around inside.

"What's that?"

Vivi stares at me, seeming surprised by my unfamiliarity with the substance in his hand. He looks from me to the vial and then back to me before he responds with an even more questioning inflection in his voice, "Potions?"

He hands one of the vials over to me to inspect, and I hold the vial up towards the sky in order to get some more light on it. In tiny, black print on a curve of the vial I can vaguely make out the words: _Potion. Heals minor wounds._

"Wow... Well, that explains how you can carry so many of these." I always pictured invisible, bottomless bags by everyone's sides. With the size of these, I can even fit a few in my dark blue cotton pants. "Are tents this tiny too?"

Now Vivi is giving me the most bewildered look ever. "No, uh, there are tickets that we give to moogles, and they provide us with tents... Shouldn't you, um, know this?"

My mouth has a serious problem today. I just told Vivi that I am a traveler, and then I go on to show how completely oblivious I am to what potions look like and how tents work... I'm just better off taping my mouth shut before it makes things worse.

"No... I tend to avoid battles... So I never really had to use them." Good, good. "As for tents, I usually carry one around since I can't afford to buy those tickets, but my last one was stolen." Nailed it. If Vivi bought my lie from earlier, then he has to buy this one too!

And then I realize that I'm lying to Vivi. Wow. I am a horrible person.

"Oh," Vivi says while adjusting his hat once more. He must have to adjust that thing at least fifty times a day. Still, I couldn't imagine him in a different hat than that one, so I'm not even going to suggest getting a smaller one. He probably wouldn't, anyway. Vivi seems to be the sentimental type. "S-Sorry, I just assumed..."

"It's okay," I say, waving off his apology with a flippant hand. "I would, too, if I were in your position. I'm kinda embarrassed myself."

Vivi nods his head and starts walking in the direction of the Ticketmaster. That was a very close call. I'm going to have to pay extra attention to what I say from now on lest I get myself into very deep shit... If I'm not already wading through it, that is.

Following after Vivi, the street opens up into a plaza, revealing a round, circus-like tent in the middle of it. As Vivi and I walk up to it, our steps become slower and more cautious as we near the entrance. One of the buildings casts a large shadow upon the tent, making the inside of it even darker than it should be. A white gleam in the midst of the darkness catches my eye, and my stomach drops when I realize that I'm staring at someone or something's razor sharp fangs.

Vivi must have caught sight of the fangs, too, for suddenly I find him gripping the sleeve of my gray sweatshirt. My older sister instinct kicks in, and I protectively step ahead so that Vivi is partially shielded behind me. It's rather ridiculous since I know that the Ticketmaster is not someone to fear, but seeing a talking wolf in real life rather than as a pixelated character through a screen is a tad...different.

"Welcome!" a gruff voice greets us from inside the tent. "What can I help you with?"

Silence follows this question, and I swear that I hear Vivi emit some sort of squeak, but it may very well have been my own self who made the fear-induced noise. Who the hell had the bright idea to put a man-eating wolf in charge of customer service? Any lost child, like me, would rather remain lost than report themselves to this guy. I've read enough fairytales to know how this plays out!

Vivi reluctantly lets go of my sleeve and reaches into his pocket. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he pulls out a slightly crinkled piece of rectangular paper. He holds it out in front of him, trying his best to smooth the ticket out with his gloved thumbs before he takes a step forward and reaches up on his tiptoes to hand it over to the outreached, furry, clawed hand of the wolf.

Despite knowing the outcome of this event, my heart still lurches in my throat. Just what sort of jerk would sell a nine-year-old kid a fake ticket? When I first played through the game, I must have stared at the screen in disgust until I finally ended up getting into the play. The writers of Final Fantasy sure know how to pull your heartstrings.

"Hm," the Ticket Master hums to himself, looking over the ticket with scrutinizing eyes. "What's this? There's something odd about this ticket..." He pauses, building up the unnecessary suspense. "Why, it's another fake! I've seen so many today."

"Nooooo!" Vivi cries out, lowering his head in despair, and the sudden volume of his voice causes me to stare at him in shock. This is the first time that I have heard Vivi speak, and it may not be as childish as the Kingdom Hearts' version presents, but he has been very soft-spoken up until this point.

With my height, I'm forced to bend down to give Vivi a one-armed hug around his shoulders. I can't do much about the situation, but I can lend a sympathetic hug... Oh, whom am I kidding? I'm hugging Vivi! Take that, Vivi-fans!

"Now, now. Don't cry," the Ticketmaster consoles, turning around and reaching into the back of the tent for something. Inwardly, I roll my eyes, knowing that this something is pretty worthless. "Here, I'll give you these. Do try to cheer up now, hmm?"

As the Ticketmaster leans forward to give Vivi the three Tetra cards, I take a step back. It is really hard to not play the part of Little Red Riding Hood and ignore his wolfish features. Especially when his sympathetic grin bares his sharp teeth at us.

Tentatively, Vivi looks up, and I let my arm fall off his shoulders as he takes the Ticketmaster's offering. The black mage turns his glowing eyes towards me, blinking owlishly as he holds the cards out, but I just give him a half-hearted smile and shrug. I never really bothered with the game until it became a plot point. I couldn't even begin to tell you how to play the game. If it's similar to any of the monster card games that I've played as a child, then I'm only good at collecting them. Gotta catch them all!

Since I'm no help, Vivi continues to stare at the cards with a perplexed expression. This is obviously the first time he has ever seen these mysterious cards, and I love Vivi too much to freak him out by saying that the cards hold a curse that will bring misfortune and ruin upon your mortal life until the day you die. I could just tell the scarier truth that you will end up raising chickens in a house in Lindblum and talking nonstop about these stupid cards, but as I said, I love Vivi.

"Talk to Alleyway Jack to learn more about the cards," the Ticketmaster suggests upon seeing Vivi's puzzlement over the three cards. "Good luck, lad!"

Finally given the opportunity to leave the scary wolf without seeming rude, I grin nervously at the Ticketmaster and lightly push Vivi away from the ticket booth. Once we're out of earshot, I stop forcing Vivi to move and let loose a shaky breath. Geez, if this is how I react towards non-playable-characters, how am I going to not piss myself in front of monsters?

"I-I really wanted to see the play..." My frightened expression automatically changes when I hear Vivi's downtrodden tone. Vivi doesn't look up at me as he carefully pockets the cards. "What do we do now? Should I just go back home?"

Not trusting my voice for the moment, I quickly shake my head. Vivi can't go home! If he doesn't go see the play, then Garnet will not get her cloak set on fire, and the game's storyline would completely change! My only advantage at this point is that I know the sequence of events of everything that is going to happen. If I lose that, then what do I do? Hope for the best even more than I am already?

"No, it's too late," I finally decide to say. "We could always just explore Alexandria and watch the play from the rooftops..." Scratching my head, I look over at the red-shingled rooftops. Someone would have to show me how to get up onto them without stealing a ladder or going into someone's home. "It won't be the same, but you'll still get to see the play."

"O-Okay." Vivi's quiet voice still doesn't sound enthusiastic, but at least he's joining in on my false optimism. I wish I could just tell him that we would be getting to see it up close, but he will find out soon enough.

Not being able to help myself, I grin. "That's the spirit!"

It's funny. Just today I had been having the worst day of my entire thirteen years of living, and now I feel perfectly happy. Maybe Final Fantasy IX is my happy pill. Or maybe I just finally lost it. Well, whatever makes me happy, I guess. Still, I'm not too fond of what is going to happen, or if it even will happen. I mean, what if by being here, I change the whole course of the game? Like in all those science fiction movies where the people go back in time and change one little thing about the past which ends up changing the future completely and sending the world into utter chaos?

...I've been watching way too many movies. I'm probably just sleeping in my room or in a hospital bed right now.

"Cami?" Vivi's voice draws me out of my deranged thoughts.

"Hm?" I hum, looking around the area. Off to the right is the weapon shop that is now closed, and a bit from us is the inn that is overbooked, and there are still two Alexandrian knights guarding the entrance to the play, and the woman in charge of selling garden supplies and flowers in the two booths off to the side of the center has already left. Whoa, we have to get moving!

"How do we get onto the rooftops?"

My face almost outwardly blanches, but I keep my cool. "Oh. Yeah. Good question..." How do you lure a kid into a dark alleyway? "Uh, l-let's ask that guy!"

Vivi looks over towards the alleyway that I pointed at. "What guy?"

"Um, Alleyway Jack, of course," I answer, and as soon as the words are out, a bullshit story seamlessly flows out of my mouth. "The Ticketmaster mentioned that Alleyway Jack could tells us more about those cards. I bet he's well-known around here, so maybe he can tell us how to get onto the rooftops to see the play, and that's the only alley I've seen around here."

Vivi blinks, slowly nodding in agreement. "It makes sense..."

"Perfect sense! Let's go!"

As the two of us walk towards the alleyway, I immediately hear the pounding of Dante's hammer. Really, how long does it take one to hammer a nail into a simple sign? It's not as though he's hammering together a building! This is a prime example of times when I just have to wonder how well Square really thought this through when they were making the story for the game. Oh, well. At least this means Puck hasn't taken Dante's ladder.

Despite it being light out and Alexandria being a rather friendly town, Vivi and I have the same instinct to enter the alleyway with caution. Alleys are the perfect places for muggers and other crooks to hang out, and I know the same situation applies here. Back when I first played the game, Alleyway Jack mugged me. Well, me as in Vivi, and that just made it all the more worse.

Of course, if Alleyway Jack were to try to mug me this time, there isn't much that he could take. I have no money on me, nor do I have any items... Maybe he would try to take my shoes.

With me not paying attention to Vivi and rambling to myself, I fail to notice that we're passing the point in the alleyway where Vivi trips. He trips, of course, and he falls hard on his hands and knees, practically skidding on the rock, patterned ground.

"Blast it!" Dante, a rather corpulent hippo-like being, shouts as the sign now hangs off on one side.

Ignoring the fat guy on the ladder for a moment, I bend down and help Vivi to his feet. He groans a quiet "ow" before adjusting his hat. Aw, poor Vivi...

"Hey!" Dante shouts, directing his anger at Vivi by shaking his hammer at him. "You made me miss, you little klutz!"

"Suck it up!" I retort, defending the small black mage. Dante just grumbles angry (i.e. unrepeatable) words to himself as he climbs back up his ladder and fixes the sign. After a few whacks from his hammer, the sign is fixed.

Yeah, I know. That is just so messed up.

"Whew. That should do it," Dante sighs, and he sincerely sounds tired and out of breath. I didn't know hammering something was so tiring.

...OH GO—What did I just think!

Dante climbs back down the ladder, and the wooden steps creak under his weight until he's on the sturdy ground. With a yawn, he stretches his arms out, giving us a lovely view of his bushy armpit hair. "Well, it's been a long day."

Without another word or look at either Vivi or me, he proceeds to waddle away from the scene, leaving his ladder leaning against the building. I have to wonder if he would even care that his ladder was stolen.

Just as Dante exits the alleyway, I look over towards the opposite end, waiting for a rat boy to come running towards us.

A few seconds pass by.

Then a minute.

Then a couple minutes.

"Uh, Cami?" Vivi pipes up. For some reason, though, he is keeping his voice barely above a whisper. "What are we waiting for?"

"Good question." Worry starts to etch away at my mind. See? Things have already changed! Puck isn't coming! Does this mean that I have to carry that stupid ladder all the way that last rooftop? I have no sense of coordination! I'll drop it! Or I'll fall over with it! Or—

A rather large hand grabs my hip, causing me to shriek. I ungracefully spin around to face whoever is behind me, and I put my fists up in some weak, pitiful form of defense. Oh god, I'm going to die!

"Whoa!" a notably masculine voice exclaims. In the shadow of the alleyway, I cannot make out any distinct features.

...except for the fact that he has four arms.

My stance doesn't relax even though I know who I am dealing with now. In fact, I tense even more when I realize that Vivi has fallen over once more, but this time he is remaining on the ground, trembling.

"Sorry for the scare." He laughs nervously, using on of his four hands to rub the back of his head. "I was...uh... Anyway, what is a young woman such as yourself doing in such a dangerous place? Did you get lost?"

"No, no!" I answer quickly, taking a step closer to Vivi. Gingerly, I bend down, keeping my gaze on Alleyway Jack as I tug at Vivi's upper arm to help him up. "My friend and I were just...walking around."

Alleyway Jack tilts his head, looking down at Vivi's shaking form. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Fine." I keep my response tightlipped and quick, unsure of what Alleyway Jack would do to a couple of defenseless kids. Vivi gets to his feet, but he resumes gripping my sleeve as he had done with the Ticketmaster.

Unfortunately, my scared expression is also worn like a sleeve, and Alleyway Jack easily picks up on it. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you." He offers one of his four hands to me. "A fellow gil-less person to a fellow gil-less person, eh?"

Realization finally slaps me in the face. "You tried to rob me!"

"Hey, I have to make a living somehow," he mutters, acting as though it is perfectly justifiable to pickpocket someone in an alleyway. "It's nothing personal."

"Uh-huh," I huff, turning on my heel with Vivi in tow in order to continue down the alleyway. Just who the hell does this guy think he is? Robbing little kids in the dark—where does he get off?

"H-Hey! Wait up!" the four-armed man orders, chasing after me. Instinct tells me to run screaming, but my curiosity keeps me from doing so. Is he going to tell me about that stupid card game? If so, I am not following him to that stupid pub!

Alleyway Jack stops in front of me, looking up and down the alleyway as though he's searching for someone or something. There's no one around us, though.

"Sorry about earlier, Miss," he says, bending down to look me in the eye in what appears to be an act of sincerity, but it just serves to make me feel self-conscious about the fact that this guy is over six feet tall and I'm about eight inches shorter than him.

Before I can react, he grabs my small hands with all four of his large ones, holding them up almost in an endearing fashion. My eyes shoot open, and Vivi actually lets go of me as Alleyway Jack leans down until his face is so close to mine that I can see the outline of his lips form a wide smile.

"How 'bout we get a drink together? I'll treat," he offers, tilting his head a bit to give off a false air of innocence. "I'll even teach you how to play Tetra Master, if you want."

... Okay. That is not quite the offer that I was expecting.

Getting rid of my doe-caught-in-the-headlights expression, I frown, yanking my hands from his grip. "I'm not thirsty, and I thought you were gil-less."

Alleyway Jack gives an amused laugh, raising his arms into the air. "There's always gil around for a couple of beers! My, you are a cute one."

"Beers?" I repeat, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "I'm thirteen, you weirdo!"

The air suddenly drops a few degrees as the four-armed man's amused laughter slowly fades into a stunned silence. His arms slowly drop back to his side, going limp, and he stares at me, almost expecting me to announce any second now that I was only kidding. I stare evenly back at him until he blinks, finally taking the hint.

"Seriously?" he asks, his voice drenched with disbelief. "Whoa. This is...awkward." He laughs nervously, trying to break the tension. "Um, well, I'm just going to, uh, leave you then... Sorry about that. I, uh... If you want someone to teach you about Tetra Master, just ask for Alleyway Jack... I won't charge ya."

"Uh-huh," I respond dully, clearly not amused by all of this. The only good thing about this awkward exchange is that Vivi seems to have collected himself. Man, I wish I could have paid more attention to what was going on behind me in the first place. Alleyway Jack appears after Puck steals the ladder, but if Puck doesn't steal the ladder, he is still going to appear at some point, and I could have easily caught him off-guard and avoided all of this.

Alleyway Jack flashes me a million-gil grin, motioning with his thumb on one of his many hands to himself. "If we ever cross paths in three years, let me treat ya to a couple of drinks. We can learn each other's real names then, Gorgeous."

"It's Gilgamesh," I state, causing Alleyway Jack's smile to do a one-eight; the expression is so priceless that I decide to lock it away in my memory.

"...wh-what...how—" he tries to formulate a response, but I cut him off.

"Hopefully we'll meet again on better terms. Maybe I'll tell you my real name then," I mimic his infamous gig, smirking all the while. Without another word, I grab Vivi's wrist, pulling him along as I continue down the alleyway, intent on finding Puck.

Alleyway Jack doesn't follow us, probably in too much shock to digest what has just happened. I can relate to the feeling, but I honestly feel no sympathy for the mugger. I just hope Vivi is not going to call me out on the Alleyway Jack excuse that I used to get him to go into the alleyway in the first place.

"Cami!" Vivi shouts, and I immediately look over at him to apologize, but something slams into me, hard, knocking me off of my feet. My back hits the ground as something heavy remains on top of me, breathing.

"Hey! Watch it! That's the second time today!" Whatever, or more, whoever is on top of me quickly jumps off, and this time, Vivi offers his hand out to me. I give him a weak smile and take it, looking over at the person that I couldn't be happier to see.

A red beret with matching red overalls clothes the infamous troublemaker of Final Fantasy IX, Puck. He brushes some imaginary dust off of his green sleeves with his brown-furred claw, glaring at me as though I had purposely gotten into his way.

Once I'm on my feet, Puck suddenly addresses Vivi, causing the young black mage to take a step back. "You're the one with the phony ticket, ain'tcha? I saw the guy tell you it was a fake!"

"Y-Yeah," Vivi admits, looking to me with bewildered eyes. I feign confusion too. "It's a fake..."

Puck turns his attention towards me. "You didn't even give the Ticketmaster a ticket! So that must mean you don't even have one!"

"No, I don't have one," I say through gritted teeth. This rat boy sure does love to just throw out accusation rather than just politely ask about the situation. Not much of a people-person, this one. "Are you stalking us?"

"No!" Puck exclaims with childish denial in his voice. "But I can get you guys in to see the play."

"You have extra tickets?" Vivi asks, daring to hope.

"Hahaha! Yeah, right!" Puck wipes an imaginary tear from his eye. What a jerk. "I have other means, but I'll only get you guys in if you agree to be my slaves." He smirks at us. "Well, whaddya say?"

Demeaned to be a rat boy's slave? What has my dignity come to?

"Sure, why not?" I say, nudging Vivi with my elbow. Vivi, having decided to let me make up his mind for him, just nods along with me. Hey, it'll just be for the evening. We won't even have to do much.

"Awesome!" Puck cheers, pumping his fist into the air. "Now for your first assignment! You both go stand over there and see if anyone's comin'!"

I sigh, going into older-sister mode where I just do things to humor little kids. Walking over with Vivi to the part of the alleyway we entered from, with no sign of Alleyway Jack, I wonder to myself why Puck would even bother looking out for people. The only ones Puck really has to worry about is one of the guards catching him or Dante, and the latter can be easily outrun. Can't we just leave now to see the play?

"All clear?" Puck calls out to us. I give the area in front of Vivi and me one last glimpse before turning to the rat child. Vivi turns at the same time as I do in order to face Puck too.

"Yeah, it's clear," Vivi quietly calls back while I just nod my head in agreement.

"Awesome!" Puck cheers once more with a toothy grin. "Engage according to mission parameters!"

... Well, you don't hear that coming out of a kid's mouth everyday, do you?

Puck scurries over to the ladder and lifts it up with little effort. Since it's only a couple of feet or so taller than me and made of wood, I don't offer to help carry it. I wouldn't be much help anyway.

After lifting the ladder onto his shoulder so that it can be tilted to the side a bit in order to distribute the weight, Puck takes off down the alleyway and around the corner. Vivi and I share a glance. Yeah, uh, thanks for waiting, Puck.

Before Vivi and I can take off after the impatient rat, I hear footsteps coming from behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I see that my favorite, four-armed guy is returning. My adrenaline kicks in, and I force Vivi to run with me after Puck.

"We are not dealing with that creep again!" I tell Vivi, who doesn't seem to need to be told twice.

Despite the fact that Vivi and I hauled ass and hadn't been separated from Puck for more than a few seconds, Puck is still impatiently tapping his red shoe against the stone ground and glaring at us.

"Where have you guys been? I've been waiting here forever!"

"S-Sorry," Vivi apologizes in all sincerity as if Puck's exaggeration is actually true. Bless his little heart.

"Whatever!" Puck obviously didn't heed my mental order. "We have to hurry now! The play's going to start soon!"

Again, Puck rushes off and leaves Vivi and me standing there in the dust. I sigh, motioning for Vivi to follow after him as he rushes into the steeple. Impatient people really try my patience.

Entering the steeple, Vivi and I end up coming to a quick halt when we see Puck just standing around. Vivi walks up to Puck while I hang back, already knowing why the little rat isn't moving.

"Now we're going to climb up this tower!" Puck announces, pointing towards the ladder leading up the tower. "It's very dangerous." He turns to Vivi. "You go first."

I love how he has to add the "it's very dangerous" bit. Like telling someone that and then ordering them to deal with it is the best route.

Vivi walks up to the ladder inside the tower, and just as he is about to reach up and grab one of the bars, a large, pink, furry thing falls onto poor Vivi and knocks him to the ground. I wince, feeling bad for not stopping Vivi from getting hurt.

"Ow," Vivi groans as he lands on the ground, yet again, and I, yet again, go over to help him up. I have the distinct feeling that Vivi will always outdo me in the klutz department.

"Ahahaha!" Puck gives out a nasally laugh, sadistically enjoying Vivi's pain. "What the heck was that?"

"Sorry 'bout that, kupo!" apologizes the creature to Vivi. From up-close, I can see that the furry, pink thing is about the height of my leg with the added ball-like appendage on his antenna that bobs as he moves. Its eyes are squinted, giving the impression that he has no eyeballs, and his body is covered with fluffy, pink fur. Tiny, bat-like wings appear partially behind his shoulders, though they don't seem to provide much use for him. How can such tiny wings support that large of a body?

"That's Kupo," Puck tells us while grinning. "He's a moogle."

"Kupo!" Kupo responds in his usual, Pokemon-like fashion. It seems to translate to "Yes!" or something along those lines.

"And this is slave number one!" Puck proudly announces while pointing to Vivi. He then points his grubby claw at me. "That's slave number two!"

...I am pretty sure Puck just called me a synonym for crap. Jerk.

"Kupo! Pleased to meet you!" Kupo exclaims, and I'm prepared to compare him to Meowth, but I've made enough Pokemon references in this hour.

Kupo actually approaches Vivi, bowing his head in what appears to be the moogle-way of appearing apologetic. "I sorry. Just ask us moogles when you want to camp for the night, and we won't charge you extra to set up the tent!"

Vivi adjusts his hat before thanking the moogle. I thank him, too, realizing that he hasn't told us about the Moogle Diary or about saving. Well, I guess there are no save points in this dream. Once I die, I'll wake up, and that's it.

"Glad I can help you, kupo!" the moogle replies gleefully.

"All right!" Puck finally snaps, returning our attention to him. "Time for some upward mobility!"

Okay, really, what kind of kid talks like that?

Puck shifts the ladder in order to enable him to climb up the tower. Once he climbs up to the top, I can hear him shifting the ladder around again.

"Okay, come on up, slaves!" Puck orders us as soon as he is settled.

Small footsteps make their way into the steeple, and Vivi and me to turn around to see who it is. A moogle wearing a raggedy green hood and a brown, leather backpack walks into the area and makes his way towards Kupo. Well, here's the moogle we all know and love.

"Kupo? You here?" Stiltzkin asks in a soft voice. It's much more mature sounding than Kupo's, making the moogle seem ages older.

"Kupo! Stiltzkin? You leaving, kupo?" Kupo asks in a sad voice, bowing his head slightly.

"Yeah," Stiltzkin replies. "And this time I might be away for a long time."

"I'll miss you, kupo." Kupo's head bows even lower.

"Now, don't you worry. I'll write," Stiltzkin promises, and this seems to cheer up Kupo a bit, for the moogle picks his head back up.

Not even paying attention to Vivi or me, Stiltzkin waves goodbye. "Well, I'm off! Take care!" He pauses, turning back to Kupo. "Oh! Say hi to Mosh in the castle for me!"

The three of us watch as Stiltzkin leaves, and as soon as the renowned moogle is out of earshot, Vivi pops the question: "Was that a friend of yours?"

"Yes, kupo," Kupo tells Vivi. "A very special one, kupo!"

"Hey, slaves!" Puck shouts down to us, and I'm genuinely surprised that he has been able to wait for us for so long. "I thought I ordered you up here!"

I almost want to hurry up the ladder just to throttle Puck's little rat neck and teach him the virtue of patience. Then again, I think Puck would accidentally knock me off the tower with the ladder if I tried, and I want to see the play. I guess I'll have to just grit my teeth through this one.

Letting Vivi climb up the ladder first, I climb up after him. The tower is actually very narrow, and the ladder bars are tinged with rust. If one of these breaks, I'm suing. I don't know if you can sue in this world, but I will try either way.

Once at the top of the tower, Vivi somehow manages to find the room to adjust his hat for the third or fourth time. Really, his hat is like my hair when I'm doing sports. I have to constantly brush it out of my face after every single move. It's damn annoying.

"All right, the play's going to start if we don't hurry!" Puck's blunt indication for us to stop dillydallying around is ignored as I remember about the rooftop gil. I can get my own gil!

Taking the lead, Puck scurries across the first board connecting the rooftops together. They creak slightly and bend under his weight, but nothing happens. I take off after him, trying to focus my attention on my destination rather than the street beneath me. After reaching the other side, I stop with the sudden remembrance that Vivi is terrified of heights. Crap, I should have stayed with him…

"Come on! Get over here!" Puck orders Vivi who just keeps warily inspecting the board. At his show of uncertainty, Puck realizes what Vivi's problem is. "Lemme guess… You're afraid of heights, aren't you? It's okay! Just pretend you're on the ground!"

"Yeah, Vi!" I shout over to him, rather astonished that Puck is being encouraging. "You can do it! Just don't look down and you'll be fine!"

Vivi weakly nods his head at our show of support. With a deep breath, he slowly makes his way across the board, shuddering at each squeak the board makes when it's strained by Vivi's weight. As soon as he makes it across the board and onto the roof we're on, he collapses, practically gasping for air. For the third time since waking up in this world, I help Vivi back up with a smile on my face, patting his back lightly.

"You did it!" I congratulate him, but Vivi doesn't have the energy to respond.

"Come on!" Puck barks at us. "We're running out of time!"

Noticing that the sun is practically set with the red-orange-strewn sky now tinted with a shade of purple, I can fully agree with Puck that we are running out of time. In fact, we should only have a few minutes to get to the play before it begins at sundown.

We both follow Puck to the next board where he quickly runs across it. I hesitate, deciding to weigh my options first. If I cross, the platform will fall and leave Vivi stranded here, and we obviously can't have that. If Vivi crosses, the platform will still fall, and the rooftops are too far apart for me to jump it. I guess this leaves us with the last option of crossing it at the same time. We'll just have to be quick.

"Not again…" Puck sighs in reference to Vivi's fear of heights. "Don't worry! It won't fall!"

Yeah, right. You just love trying to hurt us, you crazy, sadistic rat.

"C'mon, Vi," I say, trying to appear as though I am just trying to comfort him. It's easy to do since I am trying to calm him down. He's shaking and staring at the gap with terrified eyes. "We'll both cross at the same time, all right?"

Vivi doesn't respond for a moment, but then he timidly nods his head in agreement.

Letting Vivi get on the board first, I grab his shoulders in order to balance the shaky black mage and push him across the platform.

"Don't look down," I murmur, trying to heed my own advice as the board began to shake even harder than the board before it did. Just as Vivi steps onto the rooftop, the board falls, and I leap onto the rooftop to avoid falling down with it. Thank god no one is on the ground at this time. Not only would someone have gotten hurt, but we would have also gotten caught.

"Hahaha!" Puck laughs at our distress. Sadistic, what did I tell you? "I guess it fell. Well, no point in worrying about that now, right?"

I want to kill you.

Puck rushes off to the next platform upon seeing the pissed off expression on my face. Wise decision, stupid rat. And that's all the time I have for oxymora today.

As soon as Vivi and I catch up with the fast rat, he turns to us with a curious look on his face. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot! I don't even know your names!"

Almost forgot? I sincerely thought that he just decided to name us Slave One and Slave Two.

"I'm Cami."

"...I'm Vivi," Vivi says after a moment.

"Cami and Vivi, huh? Funny names… My name's Puck! Pleased ta meetcha!"

"How is Puck a normal name compared to ours?" I whisper to Vivi as Puck continues across the rooftops. He just shakes his head, catching me off-guard once again when he starts to giggle. I blink before smiling.

Following Puck across the rooftops, I immediately notice Vivi's lack of fear regarding heights now. In the game, I guess Vivi really did like Puck because he helped him get over his fear of heights. Instead of taking the negative traits of Puck, such as his pushiness, rudeness, impoliteness, impatience, and sadistic nature, he took the one positive trait Puck has.

That's our Vivi. He has a heart of gold.

Finally, the three of us reach the last rooftop without stopping to pick up some gil. I wanted to stop, but we are running late thanks to a certain rat.

Puck throws the ladder into position to allow us access to the final rooftop. "Whew! We finally made it! After that wall, we'll be inside the castle! Let's go!"

Excitement brimming in all of our eyes, we climb up the ladder and hurriedly follow after Puck. I'm a bit nervous, but it's probably because we're illegally getting in to see the play. There's nothing I should be concerned about, right? I just hope everything runs smoothly now…or at least goes as it is supposed to.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Play Along Part 2

Holy agoraphobia! Isn't there some sort of fire code to prevent the number of people stuffed into this place? There are rows and rows of nobles with a few middle-class, elderly couples in-between, and all of them are here to see a play that has probably been performed thousands of times. At my school, only family members and friends would ever show up for such a mundane thing. This must be the equivalent of Broadway here!

"C'mon!" Puck orders, practically pushing past the elbows of a noble couple wearing very puffed-out clothing. Neither noble seems to pay attention to him. "Through here!"

My polite nature kicks in, and Vivi follows suit in apologizing to everyone that we bump into. "Excuse us, pardon me, sorry, coming through!"

A small aisle that circles around the seats comes into view, and I'm guessing that this is the pathway that people are supposed to us in order to get to their seats. Puck actually pauses, looking up and down the pathway before continuing on. I do the same, hoping that none of the Alexandrian guards are patrolling the area right now. If memory serves me right, the Pluto Knights are all goofing off somewhere.

With one last push forward, Vivi and I find ourselves finally able to breathe. Puck motions us on, though, leading us down the horizontal aisle to a place in front of what appears to be a stereotypical, noble family. A noblewoman and a little girl in a pretty, white bonnet with pink ribbon are seated in front of us, and though the noblewoman gives us the ole side-eye, she only stares at us for a moment before going back to paying attention to the little girl.

"Geez," I breathe, taking a seat on the ground next to Puck. "Why are so many nobles obese? I think I had to squeeze through side fat more than once."

Puck grunts, sitting down as well. "It's 'cause they sit on their butts all day counting money."

The music abruptly stops, coming to an end on what sounds like a random note, but no one questions it and simply begins clapping. Not wanting to look out of place, Vivi sits down beside us as we join in with the applause. The sudden lack of music makes me realize how weird it is to be going through this world with no background music playing. It makes this dream seem all the more real.

Everything goes dark, causing the unintelligible chatter to go silent. We aren't left in the dark for long, though, as fireworks light up the night on either side of the stage. Vivi flinches from the sudden noise, but Puck and I just grin in amusement. Something about shiny, bright lights leaves me utterly entertained for hours on end.

The balcony that the musicians are playing on lifts up, revealing a stage with a mock-castle underneath it. Now that I think about it, this stage is not filled with a ton of props, yet this feature does not seem to take away from the story. It probably saved Tantalus a bundle too.

Looking over towards the side of the castle walls, I come across the balcony that Queen Brahne and Princess Garnet are in. Queen Brahne has already gotten up from her seat in order to do some ridiculous twirling. When she pauses to look at the fireworks, I finally get a good look at her, and I have to say that she is one creepy-looking person.

Her skin is a sickly blue that is freckled with a darker blue, and even in the dark and dim lighting, it is hard to miss that abnormal color of her skin. Also, her weight causes her skin to bag down, especially on her arms, and the robe that she has to wear in order to cover her big body looks more like a decorated carpet. Her hat looks ridiculous, too, like a bended, glorified broom. In her grubby fingers is a red, flower-patterned fan that she will break apart in anger during the night.

A sharp pain in my side causes me to visibly wince and look over to Puck. He motions with his head for me to look at the stage, and I realize that Baku has made his entrance.

In real life, Baku looks rather...amusing. To say the very least, he looks like a pig who wears clothes and has facial hair.

As Baku bows, the crowd erupts into a polite applause. "Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's performance is a story that takes place long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father, King Leo. When our story begins, Marcus, having heard of this, crosses swords with the king." Baku looks up to the balcony. "And now, Your Royal Majesty, Queen Brahne, Your Highness, Princess Garnet..." He turns back to the crowd, waving his arms majestically. "Noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want to be Your Canary'!"

Baku, now taking on his part as King Leo, walks off to the side of the stage as the dramatic fighting music sounds from the musicians above the stage. A man with a salmon-colored bandana on his head and blue tattoos on his arms appears on stage with his sword drawn out at King Leo. Towards the center of the stage, three infamous guys are kneeling down: Blank, Cinna, and Zidane.

Stitches coated Blank's body, and though the graphics distorted his body in the game, he clearly has different colored skin tones on each sewn piece of skin. He is also mostly naked, so I am sure that he is more than aware of this fact. Just what is Blank? Frankenstein's monster gone right?

Also, just what is the deal with not wearing clothes? Cinna may not have Blank's unique features, but he has this big beer belly that visibly jiggles as he moves, and his face. His. Face. He looks like a natural-born clown!

Of course, I am not really paying close attention to either Blank or Cinna. In the middle of them with his dirty-blond head bowed down is Zidane. His sleeveless suit makes his appear really rogue and charming, and I have to admit that it appeals to my hormonal-teenaged-girl instincts. Instead of ogling his visible arm muscles, though, I am trying to get a good look at his tail.

Yes. I fail as a teenaged girl. I know. But it's a monkey tail, and who doesn't love monkeys?

"Bereft of father! Bereft of mother!" Blank shouts as he stands up. His voice is deeper than I imagined, and a bit rougher than I would expect from a teenaged boy. Maybe he's older than Zidane? I always placed them to be around the same age. "Marcus! Thou hast lost even thy love!"

Cinna is the next to stand, also shouting in Old English, "Fortune hath escap'd thee! For what end shalt they live?"

I get on my knees as Zidane also stands up, swinging his sword high in the air. "For the sake of our friend... Let us bury our steel in the heart of the wretched King Leo!"

"Aye!"

"Awesome! We get to see a fight scene already!" Puck cheers, getting to his feet in order to see the action better. I join him, offering a hand to Vivi for him to join us.

"Are those real swords?" Vivi asks, adjusting his hat.

I open my mouth to respond, but Puck cuts me off. "Of course not!"

"Tell Steiner that," I mutter low enough for Puck to not hear me, but I think Vivi heard me say something, for he looks up at me for a second before returning his attention to the play.

"We shall back thee, kinsman!" Blank announces from behind Marcus.

"Pray, sheathe thy swords!" Marcus orders. "This villain is mine alone!"

"Nay, kinsman!" Cinna objects. "For I, too, have lost a brother to this fiend!"

You know, this play seems to have a really good story to it. Too bad they could not have started from the beginning; starting from when Marcus and Cornelia first met and continue on from there.

King Leo swings his sword as a warning, and the two guards next to him wave their hands at the four men. "What ho? Out, vermin! Away! Thou darest bare thy sword before thee king? All who stand in my way will be crush'd!"

Marcus draws his sword with a notable _shing_ and points it at King Leo, signaling the start of the battle.

"Treacherous Leo, my kinsman's suffering shall not be in vain! For I shall instruct thee in his incomparable pain!"

After Zidane's line, the battle begins. Blank is the first to attack, visibly slashing the guard with his sword. The guard does not try to block the attack or retaliate. He falls back to the ground, remaining still.

Zidane tackles the other guard, and there is actually a bit of a fight between the two. When Zidane tries to diagonally slash the guard with his sword, the guard grabs his wrist with his clamp-like hand and punches Zidane in the gut with his other one. Zidane, unlike the guard who simply fell with one hit, retaliates by flipping backwards and kicking the guard in the face, sending the guard's back to the ground. Zidane doesn't back off, taking his sword and stage-stabbing the guard right through the stomach. The guard twitches a bit before lying still.

Cinna is the first to start with the stage magic, shouting out the word "pyro" as fire seems to erupt around King Leo. King Leo flinches from this, and once the fire ends, Marcus charges at him, intending to finish the king off. King Leo blocks the attack, though, and for a few moments there is a struggle between King Leo and Marcus as King Leo holds Marcus' sword off.

Finally, King Leo throws Marcus off, but he is audibly gasping for air. Instead of continuing the fight, he rushes up the stairs leading to the top of the stage's castle. "Arrg... Grr... Thou hast not seen the last of me, Marcus!"

"Come back!" Zidane and Puck shout at the same time. I laugh to myself, realizing that they used the same tone despite the fact that Zidane is acting.

As Zidane runs towards the stairs, Blank intercepts him before he can reach the stone steps.

"Out of the way, Blank!" Zidane cuts his sword through the air at him.

"What's this guy's deal?" Puck asks, though I'm guessing he is just voicing his thoughts because his eyes are still glued to the play.

Blank takes a few steps up the stairs in order to avoid being cut by Zidane's sword. "Consider this, Zidane! If Prince Schneider were to marry Princess Cornelia, peace would rain over both their kingdoms!"

"Bullshit!" Puck snaps.

"Tis foolishness! If all were so easy, why, none would suffer in this world!"

The band starts to play fast-paced music, signaling Zidane and Blank's swordfight scene. At first, the two of them run up to the top of the castle where Baku went, and Zidane swipes his sword at Blank who adeptly jumps over it. Blank mimics Zidane's attack, but he aims his sword at Zidane's legs, and Zidane jumps over it. Zidane then goes back on the offense, quickly slashing his sword at Blank who seamlessly dodges each of his attacks. Blank finally attacks back, and the two end up clashing swords. Before Blank can recover, Zidane attacks again, forcing Blank to fall back in order to avoid being hurt for real.

After this, Blank jumps down from the castle and onto the stage, running towards the platform in front of the audience with Zidane hot on his tail-trail, trail. I mean, trail.

"En garde!" Blank shouts at Zidane.

"Expect no quarter from me!"

"Aw, yes! This is what I'm talkin' 'bout!" Puck jumps up and down, practically pounding his fist in the air.

Just as Puck gets all excited, Zidane does his notorious backflip in order to avoid being stabbed by Blank. At this, Vivi and I both get to our feet, joining Puck in the excitement.

"Yeah! Go get him, Zidane!" Puck shouts, and all the excitement in me vanishes from hearing my favorite character's name. How does Puck know who Zidane is? More importantly, did I say his name aloud without realizing it?

"Hey, how do you know that guy's name?" I ask, causing Puck to look over his shoulder at me.

"That guy, Blank, said it before they started fighting. Don't you pay attention? Geez."

"Oh." Puck, my heart nearly stopped. Be nicer.

As Zidane and Blank go on, I try to name all of the coordinating buttons with the moves they make. Most of the moves actually seem to follow the button sequences, though the way they perform the swordfight is so much more realistic. In fact, they'll probably score a hundred on their first try, and they'll never even know that they did!

"We shall finish this later!" Blank exclaims as he makes his way towards the Alexandrian Castle.

"Come back here!" Zidane calls out, though I notice that he doesn't immediately run after Blank. Instead, he stays in front of the crowd in order to collect some of the gil they're tossing him. I kinda wish I had something to throw at him, just so that I could get his attention.

Before I can yank Puck's hat off and throw it towards Zidane, the monkey-tailed character takes off after Blank. No one says a word or points out that they are going into the castle. Not even Puck or Vivi. Then again, Marcus is back on stage now, so I suppose they're more interested in him.

I slink back down to the ground, holding my knees in order to rest my head on top of them. To be very honest, I'm exhausted. It may have only been a few hours since I've arrived here, but all of this excitement and anticipation is starting to get to me. And hunger. I never got to eat dinner. A growing girl has to eat her food, even if she's done growing. Thank you, puberty, for making me look like a grown woman when I'm only thirteen.

Vivi and Puck resume their place back down on the ground on either side of me. Vivi looks a little beat, too, but I think he'll stick it out in order to see the entire play. Puck is the only one out of the three of us who seems to be wide-awake. Maybe he's nocturnal. I think rats are nocturnal. If I ask him if he's nocturnal, I'm pretty sure I'll be labeled as a speciesest for the rest of my time here.

"Hey, look! It's the part where Marcus sneaks into Princess Cornelia's room!" the little girl in front of us announces, causing her mother to white-powdered mother to shush us.

Puck sighs. "Great. Mushy stuff."

"Yeah." I can't stand romance either. I need action. "It should pick back up in a bit."

"Have you seen this play before?" Vivi innocently asks, and I innocently swear up a storm inside my head.

"No, no. Just heard about the fight scenes." Technically, I've never seen the entire play. Just the beginning and the fight scenes, and the later ones were all improvised as far as I know.

Epiphany! Since Zidane has everyone improvise during the play, then that's the same action I should follow for the remainder of this dream. I'm tired, so I know that I'm gonna wake up soon, but for the time being, I'll just play along with the story line and improvise on some parts. I wouldn't make major changes, but small ones that could make my life easier, why not?

I look up at the night sky, happy to be rid of my worries, and just as I look up, a hooded figure flies overhead on a party banner rope. Another figure follows after the hooded one on another rope, and I immediately piece the scene from the game. My eyes trail Garnet as she plops down on the roof of the orchestra building.

For a moment, I consider telling Puck and Vivi about the two, but I quickly decide against it. They would end up asking too many questions, or Puck might even suggest leaving so that we don't get caught when the guards get called.

When the orchestra messes up, I almost think that no one is going to notice, but Puck has to ask what the heck that was all about.

"Ta wake the people that were sleeping," I reply, trying to act as though the blunder is not very important or noteworthy. My tone seems to work, as Puck just shrugs off the occurrence as well.

Thankfully, the romance is over and a new fight sequence has begun. Marcus has just been caught by a few guards trying to get into the castle in order to see Princess Cornelia. Unfortunately, the guards somehow end up overtaking Marcus in the end, and it is met with a bunch of booing from the crowd.

As the guards drag Marcus offstage, King Leo walks back onto the stage, looking very pleased with the recent events. "Tonight, I shall finally see my daughter Cornelia betroth'd to Prince Schneider! An then Prince Schneider and his kingdom will be mine! Gwahahahaha!"

"So much for an evil laugh..." I comment, causing Vivi to laugh and Puck to nod his head in agreement.

The two guards who dragged Marcus offstage return back onto the stage with him, still holding Marcus as their hostage.

"Your Majesty!" one of the guards exclaims.

"We have caught an intruder!"

King Leo walks up to them and glares directly into Marcus' eyes for a second before turning away from him. Marcus continues to glare back at King Leo.

"Why, my poor Marcus! Hark, lad. No matter how much thou dost treasure Cornelia..." King Leo pauses and looks at Marcus again. "... No matter how deeply she might believe she doth love thee... Never shall I see her marry such a peasant as thee!"

The sound of a bell echoes throughout the stage. It almost sounds like a church bell, but the tense atmosphere makes it sound more foreboding.

"When the bell strikes three... Under the axe thou shall be!" King Leo bellows. He also rhymed. What a rapper.

The bell strikes a second time. Vivi and Puck are back on their feet, practically trembling with anticipation. This would be the perfect time to scare them both, but I'm too lazy to actually get up from my spot.

The bell starts to ring a third time, and King Leo shouts, "Furthermore!"

He abruptly stops when two platforms come through the bottom of the stage. The first platform reveals Zidane and the hooded princess, and the second platform reveals Steiner.

... Okay, so I'll admit that I always thought the "rusty armor" bit was just a joke. I have definitely been proven wrong. There are visible spots of rust all over Steiner's knight armor!

"Who the heck is that?" Puck voices, looking to me for an answer. I shrug, putting my hands up in the air. Vivi looks just as confused as him.

Down on the stage, I cannot hear what Tantalus is whispering to each other, but I can see Baku's expression. He looks just as confused, and maybe even a bit shocked, as the rest of us. He quickly changes to a look of surprise, going along with the change in plans.

Steiner, on the other hand, is still looking around with his jaw dropped.

Marcus forcefully breaks free from the guards and runs to Garnet. "Cornelia!"

Garnet seems a bit hesitant at first until Zidane nudges her. Only then does she pull Marcus into a hug.

"Oh, Marcus!" she says in a loving voice, and even though she is exaggerating her tone, I have to say that she really does have a beautiful voice. It's just soft and pleasing to the ears. Too bad this isn't a musical. I would have loved to hear her sing.

I almost slap my forehead when the members of Tantalus make their signature "T" sign with their hands. Thankfully, the crowd seems to pass if off as nothing. I guess I gave the people of this world too much credit.

"Oh, Marcus!" Garnet cries again. "I missed you so! I wish never to leave thy side. Prithee, lead me from this place!"

Funny. Isn't she trying to get Tantalus to lead her from Alexandria? Parallelism for the win!

"See, King Leo," Zidane speaks up. "Thou shouldst give them thy blessing!"

King Leo actually seems to be contemplating Zidane's suggestion, but his thoughtful look is soon replaced by a furious expression. His nostrils flare as he turns on the happy couple. "Never! Never leave his side, thou sayest? Foolish banter! I'll not allow it! Cornelia shall marry none other than this man—" at this, he grabs Steiner's shoulder "—Prince Schneider! Is that not so, Prince Schneider?"

Steiner looks as though he is about to faint. "M-Marry the princess? Me?"

No, no, no, no, no! I do not want that mental image!

King Leo ignores his comment and turns to his henchmen. "Aye! And this traitorous crew, I will put to death!"

Benero and Zenero, if I recall their names correctly, take Zidane and Marcus to the back of the stage. Neither of them even bother with actual weapons as Zidane kicks one of them and Marcus punches the other.

"Too many of them!" Benero or Zenero exclaims as they run off the stage. "Run away!"

Desperate, King Leo goes over to Garnet. "Pray, sweet daughter, come home to the castle with me."

"Nay father! I shan't return!" Garnet shakes her head.

"Cornelia... Trouble me no more. This wedding is for thine own welfare. Be mindful of that."

"Not if I can help it!" Marcus cuts in. "Now is my moment of vengeance! For my parents, and for my love, Cornelia..." He draws his sword, aiming to thrust it through King Leo. "I shall cut thee down!"

Marcus moves to stab King Leo, but as fate and the script shall have it, Garnet steps in the way in order to stop Marcus and protect her actor-father.

"Ngh!" Garnet groans as the sword appears to go through her left side. I have to put both of my hands over my mouth in order to hold in my laughter. Off to the side, Steiner is having the largest meltdown ever, gasping in shock and waving his arms high over his head.

"No... Cornelia!" Marcus cries in devastation.

"Mar...cus," Garnet rasps, trying to vocalize her last words. "Forgive me. I still love my father..."

"Cornelia!" King Leo cries, leaning over Garnet's form.

"Princess!" Steiner cries with just as much real anguish, dropping to his knees.

"Prithee, forgive my selfishness, Father, and spare my sweet Marcus..." Garnet says softly before going limp.

"What have I done? Am I never to hear her loving voice again? Am I cursed never again to feel her soft touch? Oh, cruel fate! Thou hast robbed me of all I treasure!" Marcus takes his sword without another word and stabs himself right through the gut. "Ngah!"

"Marcus!" Zidane calls out to his fallen friend.

I hear sniffling next to me, and I turn my head to see Vivi crying a bit. Puck just looks on in amazement at the show, though. I guess he only gets emotionally over the killing and battles. What a boy.

"It's okay, Vivi," I say, standing up and putting an arm across his shoulders. "It's just pretend."

"B-But it's so sad!" Vivi still sniffles a bit. "They both had to die because they loved each other. It's not fair."

"Life's not fair," I automatically respond, and I cannot help but think back to my mom. What is she doing right now?

"Wow, what a show!" Puck ignores Vivi's emotional dilemma. "Zidane's my favorite character!"

"Mine too!" I laugh, thinking that I can finally say that without sounding weird.

"Yeah," Vivi agrees with both of us. He finishes rubbing his eyes. "So sad..."

"I'm glad we climbed all the way over here. How 'bout you, huh?" Puck turns to us, but before either of us can answer, Puck's eyes gets big and he points behind us. "Uh-oh! Look out!"

Vivi and I look behind us just in time to see two Pluto Knights charging down the aisle towards us. I yelp and grab Vivi's hand, feeling a rush of adrenaline in my system. We try to run after Puck, but the rat has gotten a fairly good head start on us.

"Come back here!" one of the knights shout as the other one screams something about fury. Not good, not good, not good!

As the knights begin closing in on us, Puck jumps on the banister and runs in the direction we came from. Vivi and I do the same, though both of us almost fell off. Thank goodness that these banisters are wide. The knights skid to a halt as we by them, and they quickly change direction and run after us, though stumbling a bit to regain their balance while shouting at us to stop. We jump down from the banister, reaching back to the place where we had been sitting.

Vivi trips behind me, landing on my legs, and causing me to fall flat on my face. Oww…

"Fools!" I hear Puck's voice from above us. "I'm outta here!"

Jerk! I'll haunt you if they kill me! And I will blame you for everything!

I scramble back to my feet, ignoring the dull throb in my head, and help Vivi back up. He hastily apologizes for tripping, but I don't respond to him in favor of running for our lives. Instead of going through the crowd, I lead Vivi to a small bridge that connects the boat to the audience's platform. Crossing the bridge, I run to where everyone is still hunched over Garnet since they're mourning her death. Mimicking Vivi's moves in the game, I jump over Garnet's form, landing swiftly on the other side. Vivi jumps over Garnet, too, landing in front of me.

At this, we find ourselves being closed in. Vivi must finally realize the severity of our situation, for he raises his hands up and warns the Pluto Knights to not come any closer.

For the first time, I see the most astounding thing that I have ever seen in my entire life. A small light appears between Vivi's outstretched hands, and it quickly grows to form a ball of fire. He pushes his gloved hands out, forcing the fire to shoot straight out...at Garnet.

"Shit!" I hiss, even though I expected no less from Vivi. "Let's go!"

Vivi hesitates, watching as Garnet's cloak starts to burn from his black magic, but then he realizes just what this means and starts to make a run for it. We don't even get to the other side of the stage when Vivi trips over his own two feet, sending his small self spiraling to the ground. I immediately stop beside him, kneeling down in order to suspect the damage. That was a very hard fall...

"You okay?" I ask, gently trying to check him over for any noticeable wounds.

"Come on, Princess. Let's ditch Sir Rustalot and get outta here!" My heart quickens as I realize just who is walking over to us. I grab Vivi's upper arm and pull him to his feet. "Hey, kid... You okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Vivi stutters. "I just tripped, that's all..."

"Princess, I cannot allow you to go!" Steiner finalizes his orders, turning to both of his knights. "Seize them at once!"

"Them?" I echo, realizing that Vivi and I are a part of that "them." Vivi seems to realize this, and he looks up at me with fearful, wide, yellow eyes.

"Do you have a weapon?" Zidane asks, having already gotten into fighting position with his daggers. It takes me a moment and a grip to realize that he is talking to me.

"Weapon? No? Why would I..." That's a dumb question. You're first conversation with Zidane contains a dumb question. This dream needs to restart itself now.

"Stay in the back. Hey, kid," Zidane addresses Vivi. "Make sure he doesn't get to your girlfriend."

"O-Okay."

... Vivi, if you weren't so gosh darn cute, I would totally rag on you for not objecting to the fact that I'm not your girlfriend.

"Vivi," I whisper. "I can find a rock or a stick or something... Don't go getting hurt on my account."

"N-No. That's okay. I can protect you."

"Oh my—you're adorable." I can't even keep the thoughts inside me now. "I owe you one, Vi."

Zidane laughs, presumably at us. "Don't worry. I won't leave a damsel in distress."

"You better not," I huff, realizing that Steiner is done waiting for us to attack first. There's a fierce set of determination in his eyes, and I back up, not wanting to get caught in this rain of fire. I just hope no one does decide to come after me.

Steiner races up to Zidane with a fearsome cry, and I can't help but whimper from the realization that Steiner is going to try to kill us.

"Oh, sweet crap..."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Prima Vista's Final Voyage

Having a large, thirty-year-old man charge at you with a battle cry and his sharp sword in the perfect slicing position is definitely worth adding to a "Things You'll Pee Your Pants At" list. This is not a simple and easy boss battle like the ones I would experience in the beginning of a role-playing game. Steiner is not trying to defeat us or knock us out; he is trying to kill us!

There is little fighting instinct in my bones, so I do what any kid would do: I jump back and away from the terrifying knight. I also do what any clumsy person would do: I nearly fall off the side of the stage and into the murky water that has been gently rocking the ship back and forth. Instead, I manage to fall on my butt right at the edge of the stage.

"Surrender the princess at once!" Steiner's sword clashes with Zidane's dagger, but the knight's pure physical force is too much for Zidane's much smaller form. Zidane's dagger slides down the length of the blade, creating a sharp sound, but this maneuver allows him to twist his body around and deliver a well-placed stab to the only part of Steiner's arm that is not covered by his armor. The pain obviously weakens Steiner's strength, and Zidane uses this moment of weakness in order to practically whip his daggers across Steiner's armor, forming an X-shaped scrape in his chest plate. Even though his attack does not penetrate through the metal, it sends Steiner stumbling back.

Taking this opportunity myself, I reach forward and grab Vivi's arm, pulling him to the back of the newly designated battle arena. My plan had been to get Vivi and myself as far away from the fighting as possible, especially before Steiner noticed us, but I actually end up pulling Vivi away from being stabbed by one of the Pluto Knights who had previously been chasing us.

The Pluto Knight is unable to stop his attack, stabbing straight on through empty air. He must have put his entire weight into the attack, too, for he practically throws himself clear off the stage and into the dark water below with a loud splash. "Gah!"

Vivi and I look over the edge of the stage, watching as the Pluto Knight desperately tries to swim in the water and climb back up the stage. His broadsword is nowhere in sight.

Despite my fear, I stand in front of the struggling soldier and lift my foot up until he notices the sole of my shoe. Before I can bring my foot down on his face, he surrenders.

"Um, uh... My wrath ends here!" he cries as he lets go of the edge, choosing to swim towards where Vivi and I entered the stage.

"Get back here!" Steiner's command fell on the deaf ears, however, because that Pluto Knight kept on his merry way. A giggle escapes my lips, and I almost turn to give Vivi a celebratory high five, but when I start to turn to look at Vivi, the other Pluto Knight charging at us seems a bit more important.

"Eeep!" I yelp, putting both of my hands out in front of me as though that alone would provide me with adequate protection. "We're kids!" This doesn't seem to matter to him, and I barely have enough time to throw myself out of the way as he slashes his sword at me. "Why are you after me! I have no weapon! Vivi! Help!"

Instead of landing gracefully on the wooden floorboards, I trip over my own two feet and fall onto my butt. Searing pain shoots up my tailbone from the harsh landing, but I don't have time to sit there and soothe it. As soon as I look up, a glint of the Pluto Knight's sword enters my vision, and I automatically roll over and scramble to get back on my feet.

"Vivi!" I can't think of any other name to scream. Zidane and Marcus are double-teaming Steiner, and I don't know if shouting for the princess would do me any good. Maybe as a body shield. The Pluto Knight wouldn't attack the princess, right?

With no other option, I narrowly avoid another attack from the Pluto Knight by ducking, and I beeline it towards Vivi. Just as he had done before, there is a fire-like ball burning between his two gloved hands, and it actually looks to be almost the size of his head. He pushes his hands forward, releasing the fire, and it is then that I realize that my being in front of the Pluto Knight has not been accounted for.

"Aiyee!" I squeal as I, for once, purposefully throw myself face-first to the ground. A strong wave of heat tingles over the back of my head, but a pained yell behind me lets me know that I'm not burnt.

Sighing, I look up at Vivi, about to thank him, but there's this look of horror on his face. When the heat doesn't dissipate from the back of my head and neck, I put two-and-two together.

"AHHHH!" I scream, desperately pounding my palms at my sweatshirt's hood. "VIVI! YOU SET ME ON FIRE!"

"I'm sorry!" Vivi squeaks as the burning finally stops, leaving me with a burnt smell to my sweatshirt. Thank goodness my hair and skin is relatively safe. I don't know what I would have done if my hair had been on fire. Where would I get my hair cut and styled in this place?

Whoa. Messed up priorities alert.

"Are-Are you okay?" I look back up at Vivi as I bring myself to my feet, and the poor thing is trembling. He looks like he wants to come over to help me, but I think he's afraid that I'll yell at him.

I am a terrible person.

"Ugh!" Vivi and I both visibly flinch as the Pluto Knight behind me gets back up. He takes a couple of steps towards us, sword still in hand, before running in the opposite direction. "I'm gonna be late for my date!"

"H-Hey!" Steiner exclaims as his soldier passes him by, leaving him without backup. Marcus takes advantage of Steiner's inattention this time, stabbing the same arm Zidane had. Zidane and Marcus then jump back from Steiner, creating a good amount of space between them.

"You okay?" Zidane asks, quickly looking over his shoulder at us.

"Peachy," I reply, patting Vivi on the shoulder lest the black mage continue to think that I was upset with him.

"I feel we have really wounded him," Garnet states, and we all turn our attention to Steiner who has doubled over while holding his badly bleeding arm.

"Bah!" the Captain of the Pluto Knights grunts. "Only a flesh wound..."

"'Tis but a scratch," I mutter to myself. Monty Python references are always worth noting. Before I can recite another line, the ground gives a sharp jolt as the ship begins to shake. Vivi grabs onto my arm for support, and I hate to tell him that I'm not the sturdy structure that he thinks I am.

A loud, humming noise coming from above us also starts, and I look up to see that the airship's propellers are spinning. They're spinning so fast and hard that the Prima Vista is already lifting into the air.

Over the sound of the propellers and booing crowd, there's also this strange cranking noise. Is that part of the airship?

There's a loud bang, causing me to jump, and my mind works on overkill as I recall the fact that Queen Brahne is not down with just letting her daughter go. As Marcus shouts: "Hit the deck!" I grab Vivi and throw both our bodies to the ground. Wood splinters all around us, and I can see the sleek metal of a harpoon sticking out where we were grouped together.

The airship jostles from the impact, and the stage dangerously dips to the side. Vivi rolls from the movement, forcing me to let go of him. I try to regain my balance in order to go after him, but a gloved hand grabs my upper arm and pulls me back.

Zidane drags me closer to him, and I notice that Garnet is also kneeling at his side, holding onto the ship's railing. The scene is hauntingly familiar, and a flashback of the game's full motion video plays in my mind. Zidane and Garnet are struggling to get back to their feet when a harpoon lodges right between them.

"Look out!" I scream as I scoot myself back from the two of them, not even bothering to check if the harpoon has been launched yet.

"Oh shit!" Zidane curses. He pushes Garnet away from the spot and falls back to where I am.

The harpoon unfailingly shoots and lodges right into the spot we were just in, and Zidane practically throws himself on top of me in order to block most of the debris with his body. He doesn't stay in this relatively compromising position, though, and quickly grabs both of my arms, forcing me to my feet. He doesn't let go once I'm standing, and though I want to berate him for being so touchy with me, I'm actually rather grateful because my knees are still shaking.

"Princess!" Zidane calls out, still keeping a hold on me with one hand. "You okay?"

"I-I'm fine!" A voice answers back. Despite the size of the stage, the debris and harpoons make it a bit difficult to spot Garnet's orange suit out of the six of us on here.

Another machine sound reverberates over the screaming crowd and loud creaking of the airship. Zidane quickly locates it, turning his head towards the source, and I follow his line of vision to a huge, black cannon.

"The bomb..." I breathe, recalling it from the game. Zidane doesn't hear me, but he immediately starts ushering me back when he realizes just what the cannon is about to do.

A booming sound nearly silences the panicked screams coming from all around, and a huge fireball lightens the entire area as it flies directly towards us. Just as I think it is about to hit, the fireball evolves into an evil bomb monster.

In the video game, I never found this bomb-thing to be that frightening. In real life, I'm ready to piss my pants. It's shaped like a ghost that is made entirely of fire, and flames and sparks are shooting out from it and onto the wooden airship. It's also emitting this inhuman growling that sends a shiver down my spine. And its laugh. I don't think I've ever heard such a chilling laugh before.

To make matters worse, Steiner has recovered from all the rolling around the stage. "Princess! I cannot let you go with these thieves!"

Zidane and I share a look; both of us are obviously aware of the huge firebomb that is freaking growing behind Steiner, and it's just hard to believe that the noises and the heat from it hasn't clued Steiner in already. He seriously wants to battle when all of our lives are on the line now?

"All right." Zidane shrugs his shoulders and unsheathes his daggers. "Go make sure your friend is okay."

For a moment, I eye the bloodied blades of his daggers. "... Uh, okay."

Despite Vivi's small size, it is very easy to spot his form. He's sprawled out on the ground nearby Steiner, and he's struggling to get up. To make matters worse, Steiner has already spotted him, and he doesn't seem too forgiving over Vivi putting one of his men on fire.

"Vivi!" At the sound of my panicked voice, Vivi looks up just in time to see Steiner zeroing in on him. Steiner's looming form over Vivi's small, trembling one causes the small black mage to freeze up. "Vivi! Run!"

"Steiner! I order you to look behind you!" Garnet's order seems to distract Steiner for a moment, probably recalling that the harpoons could have killed or wounded the princess, and this gives Marcus enough time to rush over to intercept Steiner's path. Vivi remains on the ground, terrified, but he lifts his arm up and points a finger at the growing bomb creature behind Steiner.

The airship jerks once more as the bow smashes into the stone-built houses, crumbling their walls while the airship only takes minor damage to the wood. I stumble to the side, but someone steadies me with their brown, leather-gloved hands. Confused, I look over my shoulder to see none other than Garnet.

"We have to get Steiner to turn around!" She lets go of me, searching along the ground for something. I just keep looking from her to the ongoing battle with Steiner. Marcus is trying to lure Steiner towards the side of the stage, and Zidane's staying in front of Vivi, so whenever Steiner does a sharp maneuver towards the black mage, Zidane is there to stop him. When Garnet picks up a large stick with a curved top, I realize that something she has been searching for is her staff. She must have dropped it when the harpoons attacked the airship.

Garnet turns back to me, addressing my questioning gaze. "He is very hardheaded."

"What does—oh." Garnet runs up to Steiner, hitting him hard on the top of his helmet with her staff, answering my question. Ouch. That looks like it hurt a lot more than her attacks do in the game!

"Look behind you!" Zidane shouts as Marcus tries to forcefully turn Steiner around. Marcus may be built, but Steiner is still stronger than him and easily throws him back, knocking Marcus off his feet.

"It's a bomb!" Vivi finally manages to vocalize his thoughts.

"I won't fall for your old tricks!" Steiner brings his sword down on Zidane's dagger and then implements a quick side slash. For the first time, I see Zidane's middle get torn into, and dark, crimson blood soaks the white shirt he is wearing underneath his blue vest.

Before Zidane can even fully register the pain, a white light surrounds him, glowing brightly for a few seconds before dimming and completely fading away. A little ways from him, Garnet has her eyes closed and her staff pointing towards Zidane. He blinks before giving Garnet a charming grin. It seems to affect me more than it affects Garnet.

At this point, the bomb behind Steiner is at least three times its original size. The glaring eyes are now bulging as though the thing is about to explode. I panic and ignore my brain that pleads with me to stay away from the bomb. Vivi's not getting up from the ground, and everyone is right near the bomb!

Steiner doesn't take notice of me running towards them, but Marcus surely does. He glances from me to the bomb, making the connection almost immediately.

"It's gonna blow!" Marcus shouts, causing everyone to scramble away from Steiner and the bomb. I grab Vivi and attempt to drag him away from the line of fire.

Steiner's determined, furious expression falters, and he finally looks over his shoulder to see what is causing us to stop fighting. I can't see his face from where I am, but as soon as he turns around, Steiner falls back to the ground, holding a shaking hand in front of his face.

There seems to be almost a moment of silence before the bomb explodes.

Fire and smoke cloud my vision, and Vivi's small body slams into mine from the sheer strength of the bomb's waves. Having a mother's instinct, I huddle my body over his in order to protect him from the fire and debris hitting against my back. At some point, I'm forced to let go of Vivi so that I can roll over on the stage, putting out the embers and ash that have landed on the back of my sweatshirt. Even with the thick clothing covering me, it feels as though some wild cat has been let loose to scratch up my back, and it freaking burns!

Though the explosion isn't as deafening as I thought it would be, I'm still left with a small ringing in my ears. There's a distance sound of a roaring and crackling fire and splintering wood, but when the smoke finally starts to clear from the bomb, I notice that the airship is not as damaged as the bomb led me to presume. In fact, we're still flying over the rooftops of the many homes outlining Alexandria.

The Prima Vista quakes once more as a part of it just collapses onto the rooftops below, and at this point I can make out where everyone is on the stage. Marcus is towards the center, almost falling into a hole left by one the harpoons. Vivi somehow got jerked far away from me towards the far-end of the stern of the airship with Garnet. Steiner is not too far from them, but he looks to be having a more difficult time recovering from the blast.

Zidane's the first to get to his feet, achingly standing up a meter or so from me and attempting to make his way towards Garnet. The airship picks up speed, and he's back down on his knees before he can make it to her. The Prima Vista takes a sudden low dip, and for a split moment I am awestruck by the huge waterfalls that we seem to be almost gliding down. A mist of water covers us, and the temperature itself seems to quickly fall as we descend farther down the side of the cliff.

The Prima Vista picks up even more speed, and I can feel my body start to slide from the wind. We're so low to the ground now that I can see a sea of dark green trees over the sides of the stage. Branches cracked alongside the wooden airship, managing to jerk the boat as though the trees were really waves.

I try to grip onto the floorboards, but there is nothing for me to grab onto. As though I were on a rollercoaster ride, my stomach fills with butterflies as my entire body lifts up into the air. I want to scream or shout, but my world spins so quickly that I'm left closing my eyes, praying that I would wake up before I hit the ground.

A jolt of pain against the back of my head is the last thing I feel before everything goes black.


End file.
